1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of telecommunications. More particularly, this invention relates to systems and methods for a telecommunications network to automatically add in a third party to a communications link between a calling party and emergency response personnel.
2. Description of the Related Art
In emergency situations, timely assistance provided by emergency service personnel is often critical to minimize injuries, save lives, and/or minimize property damage. Often times, a mere delay of a few minutes, or even a matter of seconds, may have severe consequences in saving the life of an individual, such as an individual having a heart attack or an individual suffering from severe blood loss. Likewise, delays in reaching the scene of a fire or other catastrophic event may have catastrophic consequences to property damage. Thus, the time it takes for emergency personnel, such as, police, fire, and medical personnel, to reach the location to respond to the emergency makes a difference.
In an effort to increase the response speed of emergency response personnel, centralized emergency response telephone services, such as, for example, 911 and enhanced 911, have been implemented so that dispatch personnel at the answer center are provided with detailed information (e.g., an address of a home associated with the calling phone number, special needs of individuals at the calling phone number, a database of other 911 calls from that phone number and how they were responded to in the past, and so on) and provided with access to a wide variety of emergency response personnel to implement appropriate assistance necessary to respond to the emergency. For example, if a 911 caller reported a fire in a home from the calling phone number, then the dispatch personnel notify the fire department closest to the home to control the fire, and if appropriate, also notify nearby medical personnel to treat any victims of the fire and/or notify nearby law enforcement to control potentially hazardous situations, such as hysteria of the residents and/or crowds.
Unfortunately, a delay in reaching the location of the emergency may occur when the location of the calling phone number is different than the location of the emergency. For example, if a user of a cellular phone places the call to 911, then the address of the home with the emergency may not be provided to the dispatch personnel, especially if the caller is emotionally or physically distraught and unable to communicate the address. Still another example is when a call to the dispatch center is called from a calling phone associated with a different street address, such as a call from a neighbor's house to report a fire. In such a case, the detailed information that accompanies the incoming call to the dispatch center does not provide an accurate street address, rather the street address of the fire (i.e., the actual location of the emergency) must be provided by the calling party and/or approximated by the dispatch center. Because this address is often imprecise, the responding emergency personnel may be delayed trying to locate an approximated street address of the emergency, such as trying to look for a signs of an emergency in an area proximate to the approximated street address, going to the address of the third party caller to seek assistance in locating the emergency, and trial and error of knocking on doors until the precise street address and location are determined.
Even when a street address of the location of the emergency is known, the emergency personnel may still experience delays in locating the emergency premises. For example, when the responding emergency response personnel near the street address at which the request for emergency response assistance originated (e.g., the home), the personnel is often unfamiliar with the exact street address and is forced to proceed at a slower pace in order to precisely locate the street address. Further, the task of locating the exact street address can be more difficult when visibility conditions are poor, such as at night, when there is precipitation, and/or when there is smoke or other environmental and/or wildlife conditions that inhibit visibility. This task may be even more difficult when the home of the originating call is located in an area where the homes are far apart, road signs are difficult to find and/or read, and/or addresses are not easily visible on the exterior of the home or other outbuilding of the home (e.g., a mailbox).
Even after the emergency response personnel have reached the emergency location, additional problems and/or complications arise when the emergency response personnel have little information to respond to the emergency. For example, if the caller to the emergency response call center (or another individual at the emergency site) has limited communication capabilities, then the emergency response personnel have little information about the emergency and/or little information about the individuals or the property involved in the emergency. In such cases, the emergency response personnel frequently make assumptions and/or initiate standard procedures that have unfortunate or complicating consequences. For example, if the emergency response personnel respond to a call for medical help and arrive at the location with an unconscious individual, then the emergency response personnel are not aware of the individual's medical conditions, such as allergies and current medications. In such cases, the emergency response personnel may administer medications that the individual is allergic to and/or that have threatening synergistic effects with other medications that the individual is taking.
Accordingly, what is needed are systems, methods, and apparatus that provide an emergency locating and communications system to overcome and/or improve the above and other problems to minimize the amount of time it takes for emergency response personnel to reach the street address and/or precise location of an emergency and to maximize communication of helpful information to better respond to the emergency. In addition, what is needed are emergency locating and communications systems, methods, and apparatus that are easy to install, manage, and/or use.